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Sunday, March 2, 2014

RAH DX Lunamaria Hawke

Same name, different version

Finally, a cutie appearing on this blog after Figma KOS-MOS reviewed early last month. ^^

And it's the first Lunamaria of the year as well. XD

Released by Megahouse in February 2005, this is the first figurine of said Gundam SEED Destiny character in the RAH (Robot Animation Heroines) DX series. ^^ I actually did the reviews on the second and third releases in August and March of 2012 respectively, which means that years after the first airing of the show was concluded, I was still able to gather all the RAH DX figurines of Lunamaria. ^^ It's not exactly a huge achievement per se, but I'm very glad that I managed to get them all, and the nice bargain prices I got them for were very nice too. ^^ I wish the same good luck could be repeated for the rest of my wishlist items. ^^;

With this being the first release from Megahouse, the version I reviewed in March 2012 is technically Ver. 3, but it was given the label of "RAH DX Gundam-Archives Side 3" instead - the third sub-release series under "Gundam-Archives". For me, the naming doesn't really matter, as the figurines are of the same scale, but with different designs in costumes, and poses. I'm pretty sure they were done by different sculptors as well, as the face sculpts are all different as well. Then again, since there were arguably different looks given to Lunamaria for her closeups, middle shots, stock footage, opening and closing scenes between episodes in the original anime, the figurine sculptors were probably just being honest in depicting such "variations" as well. XD I think I made this same comment in the past when reviewing the many gashapon versions of Lunamaria between different sets produced by Bandai.

Front view of the box.

(Left) The merchandising seal of "Gundam SEED Destiny".
(Right) The release year of 2005 can be seen on the bottom left corner of the front view.

The figurine can be seen very clearly through the front window.

Left and right side views of the box.

The three characters to be released in this series.

Images of the three figurines in this series are shown on the back of the box. ^^

As compared to their respective box side illustration, Meyrin seems to receive the most faithful figurine realization. Stella on the other hand, doesn't exhibit the same expression as her image at all. ^^;

Top view of the box.

Unlike Ver. 2, and Gundam-Archives Side 3, the figurine came as an already-opened item, so I'm able to remove the internal plastic container "normally" this time. ^^

Manufacturer's serial code inside the box.

A very simple, almost Nendoroid-like red backdrop with repetitive labels of the product series printed all over it. ^^

Front view of the box.
This first version has the smallest of boxes, and perhaps not surprisingly, the lowest in terms of price as well (3,654 Yen inclusive of tax, as compared to 3,990 Yen for each of the two subsequent releases).

On the flip side, the smile on the figurines' faces seems to grow weaker by each newer version too, for some reason. ^^;

Left side view.

Right side view.

Rear view.

Top view.

If the second version is the "uniform off" type, while the third version (Gundam-Archives Side 3) is the pilot suit type, then this first release would be the full ZAFT uniform type. ^^ If the figurines are arranged in order of their releases, it seems like a mini story showing Lunamaria taking off her ZAFT uniform to get into her pilot suit. XD

The Voice I-doll version seems a little bit bigger, but what I like more about her as compared to the Megahouse figurine is the more vibrant color scheme, including her skin tone. ^^

Like all the other figurine versions of Lunamaria, I like this one very much. ^^ As compared to the other two in the same figurine line, I like this first version for the ZAFT uniform design, which is my favorite design for the character, plus the lovely (and very lively ^^) smile on her face. ^^ Then again, the face sculpt does look a bit odd to me, as it gives Lunamaria an overall longer face with a sharp chin. The design difference is especially obvious when the figurine is compared to the Voice I-doll version, which remains my definite favorite large figurine of Lunamaria to date. ^^ I prefer my Lunamaria to have a chubbier, cuter face. XD

On second thought, by some point in "MS Gundam SEED Destiny", almost everybody has a chubby face. XD

I also like the "bossy" pose designed for this figurine. Like 90 percent of the other figurines in my collection, I don't understand what her pose is supposed to mean, XD but it matches her smile very well. It's definitely more lively than the poses as seen on Ver. 2, and Gundam-Archives Side 3. ^^

In smaller gashapon format next time, but more Lunamarias are going to be reviewed on this blog in the future. ^^

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About Me

After obtaining his Bachelor of Business (Information Systems), Ngee Khiong pursued his post-graduate studies in Master of Multimedia from Swinburne University. Prior to joining as a full-time teaching staff, Ngee Khiong has worked on the design of several commercial web projects, as well as teaching as a part-time lecturer in Swinburne Sarawak. After ending his near eight-year teaching career, Ngee Khiong is now working as an administrative staff at Sarawak Energy Berhad.